Alaskan Adventure - July 22, 2014 -Denali National Park and Preserve

We got up early to catch our bus ride into the park.  We chose the 8 hr trip to Eilison Visitor Center, 66 miles into the back country.  Private vehicles are not allowed except only 15 miles into the park.

We caught our bus at the Wilderness Access Center.

I enjoyed the ride and we saw the beautiful mountain range. 

On the trip the driver told us it was his job to drive the bus and our job was to spot "critters". 

We did see the Caribou first.

    A mamma and her baby.

We stopped at ...

  

We were able to stretch our legs.  There were walking paths that provided beautiful scenery below.

Onward up the road, we spotted more Caribou.

    This little one didn't stray too far from his mamma.

Now we needed to see a bear and we did...

    He was a good ways from the road so by this picture, he was a good size bear.  I just had my camera zoomed as far as it would go.

We reached Eilison Visitor a Center and had a little lunch.  This little guy wanted lunch too but we were cautioned not to feed the wildlife.  It sure was tempting to give him a morsel.

He was a little begger so I'm sure he had been feed before.

From Eilison, if the sky is clear, you can see Mt McKinley.

   This was taken shortly after we left Eilison that Mt McKinley showed us a little glimpse of her beauty.

   The bus driver said we are in the 30 percent group.  Seventy percent that visit the park never see      The Great One.

We saw more Caribou.  This one started running through the streams.  

And one resting on the ice.

 

   Some were still grazing.

We did see more bear too.

   

    Winter is only a few weeks away so they are storing up for their long winters "nap". 

I would say it was a great day.  We saw some wildlife and a peek at Mt McKinley!